The increasing computational power and the growth of the game industry have engendered rich virtual worlds for exploration and social interaction. These virtual reality (VR) and other simulated environments, such as a computer-generated representation of the real world, present virtual terrain in three dimensions that characters or avatars or objects need to traverse within that artificial environment through translations of physical commands from the user to movement in the simulation along three dimensions.
Most interfaces employed by the VR industry are hand-controlled. However, the ability of a user to fully engage and move inside a virtual environment is hampered by the need for hands to do it.
Indeed, controlling an avatar or object in virtual reality is a major problem facing the ongoing development and proliferation of VR. It is commonly agreed that a true VR experience requires that operators be able to use their hands freely. However, with the majority of current movement solutions requiring an operator to use a hand-held controller or otherwise large expensive equipment, the user experience is made complicated by the artificial interface constraints, consequently limiting the VR experience.
There is, therefore, a present need for an alternative and improved system, device and methodology to allow VR users to better engage the virtual environments.
There is a present need for an improved technique allowing hands-free movement or motion within virtual environments or simulations, thereby permitting the user to better control their interactions through the use of their now-free hands, something currently absent in the consumer market.
There is a present need for a system/device that better mimics the natural movements of a user in virtual simulations such that movement of an avatar in the virtual world is a more natural movement employing the legs and feet instead of the hands.
Additionally, there is a present need for a simplified system, device and methodology that avoids the use of treadmills and other large, cumbersome, complicated and expensive equipment and machinery to mimic movements in virtual reality.
These and many other objectives are met in the instant invention.